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Captain-General
]] Captain-General is the senior rank granted to the Chief Custodian, the senior-most member of the Emperor of Mankind's elite personal guard known as the Adeptus Custodes. The Captain-General personally oversees the select inner corps of three hundred Custodians, known as the Companions, who actually serve the Emperor as His personal bodyguards within the sacred chambers of the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Throneroom where the ancient prosthetic device known as the Golden Throne contains the withered corpse of the God-Emperor Himself. As the highest authority within the Adeptus Custodes, it is up to the Captain-General's discretion who may be allowed access to the Emperor. He also oversees the security of the Imperial Palace. Performing such sacred and important roles, the Captain-General is considered a very influential figure and serves as an important member of the Senatorum Imperialis. Notable Captain-Generals *'Constantin Valdor' - Constantin Valdor was the first Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the ancient Legio Custodes during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Just prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Valdor was charged by the Emperor to accompany the Primarch Leman Russ of the Space Wolves in bringing his fellow Primarch Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons to account for breaking promises he had made during the Council of Nikaea which had strictly forbidden the use of sorcery and psychic powers within the Imperium. Valdor, with a contingent of the elite Custodian Guard, fought alongside Russ and the Space Wolves during the Fall of Prospero. He and his forces were responsible for killing at least three of the greatest psykers of the Thousand Sons Legion and routing a force much more numerous than their own. He was also responsible for saving Bjorn the Fell-Handed when his arm was corrupted by the sorcerous powers of a Thousand Sons psyker. Valdor sliced Bjorn's arm off to prevent the corruption from overrunning his body. After Horus' betrayal became known to the Imperium, Valdor was present during the meetings of the Officio Assassinorum's Clade Sires and Siresses. It was Valdor who suggested that an Assassin from each Clade operate as a team to assassinate Horus, rather than act alone as was the standard mode of operation. After the Horus Heresy Valdor became a High Lord of Terra, but would eventually step down voluntarily to protect his beloved Emperor, and there are those who say he serves the Master of Mankind still. The Valdor Tank Hunter was named for Constantin Valdor. *'Beyreuth' - Beyreuth was the Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes during the mid-32nd Millennium, a relatively peaceful and prosperous time within the Imperium's oft-turbulent history. But in 544.M32, this temporary peace was shattered by the massive Ork WAAAGH! led by the Warlord known only as The Beast. Not since the Ullanor Crusade had the galaxy seen such a massive WAAAGH!, which eclipsed even the size of the ancient Ork Empire of Overlord Urrlak Urruk. The Captain-General was present when the inner sanctum of the Imperial Palace was invaded by the Harlequin Troupe of the Joyful Tears. Beyreuth successfully led the defence of the Throneroom against the would-be interlopers, though at the cost of more than a dozen Adeptus Custodes. Only the Shadowseer Lhaerial Rey and the Death Jester Bho managed to reach the outer chamber which led to the Golden Throne, intent on meeting with the Emperor. The Death Jester was killed and the Shadowseer was pined to the ground. Lhaerial insisted that the Eldar had "come in peace," to deliver a message from Farseer Eldrad Ulthran, but the Captain-General refused to acknowledge her pleas. As he was about to order the death of the upstart xenos, the Captain-General was only halted by the timely intervention of Inquisitor Lord Veritus. The Beast and his WAAAGH! proceeded to rampage across the Imperium and into the very heart of humanity, where they threatened the Throneworld of Terra itself. The forces of the Imperium were only able to halt this advance at great cost and using desperate measures, but in the process, severely depleted the forces of the elite Adeptus Astartes. *'Aesoth Koumadra' - Aesoth Koumadra was the Chief Custodian and Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes sometime between the 33rd and 39th Millennia. *'Galahoth' - Galahoth was the Chief Custodian and 15th Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes. A notoriously conservative Captain-General, the Adeptus Custodes suffered stagnation under his rule. Galahoth disappeared sometime in the latter years of the 40th Millennium or the early 41st Millennium, which heralded the so-called Years of Madness, a time of strange omens and ominous whispers that engulfed Terra. There was a steady increase in cult activity -- both heretical and xenophile -- throughout the Sol System, which included the Throneworld as well. Galahoth was succeeded by Andros Launceddre. *'Andros Launceddre' - Andros Launceddre was the Chief Custodian and 16th Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes and the predecessor of the current Captain-General, Trajann Valoris. During the Years of Madness, possession was revealed amongst a sub-sect of the Imperial Palace's psychic doomscryer prognosticators themselves, though not until the false predictions of the fallen psykers sent Captain-General Launceddre to his death at the Battle of the Gilded Pyre (later recounted in the Custodian's chronicles as the Battle of Black Pyre). It is amidst this climate of spiralling paranoia and danger that Captain-General Trajann Valoris was elevated to command the Ten Thousand, and he wasted no time in taking steps to regain ironclad control of Terra's defences. *'Trajann Valoris' - Trajann Valoris is the current Chief Custodian and 17th Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes and perhaps the deadliest individual warrior in the entire Imperium. There are no records in the Imperial databanks on his martial conquests or his ascent into the order. For as long as any living mortal can remember, Valoris' name has been spoken of with nothing short of reverence, for many considered the Captain-General to be the personal representative of the Emperor Himself. Even the High Lords might be mocked, when in wine or in anger, but to do so with the Captain-General was simply beyond imagination. For to mock Valoris was to mock the Emperor Himself. Such blasphemy would not go unpunished, and would inevitably result in a transgressor's untimely death. While the two Tribunes of the Adeptus Custodes were generally occupied with the many ritual purposes of the order, the Captain-General had no set remit, but governed the forces under his command with complete freedom, to the extent that if the Ten Thousand had dealings with any part of the Adeptus Terra, they were carried out through him. Though the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes traditionally served among the High Lords of Terra only under the most dire circumstances, such as during the War of the Beast in the mid-32nd Millennium, it was only the persistence of Chancellor Lev Tieron that persuaded Valoris to assume the seat on the Senatorum Imperialis that had been left vacant for some time following the death of Lord Brach, the Chancellor of the Estate Imperium. Sources *''Codex Adeptus Custodes'' (8th Edition), pp. 6, 12, 15, 19-20, 24, 26-28, 30-31, 36, 58 *''Codex Imperialis'' (2nd Edition) by Rick Priestley, pg. 12 *''Horus Heresy: Collected Visions'' (Artbook), pp. 236-241 *''Imperial Armour Volume One - Second Edition: Imperial Guard'', pg. 148 *''The Horus Heresy - Book Seven: Inferno'' (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh, pg. 256 *''Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook'' (6th Edition) (Digital Edition), pg. 403 *''Prospero Burns'' (Novel) by Dan Abnett *''Nemesis'' (Novel) by James Swallow *''Tales of Heresy'' (Anthology), "Blood Games," by Dan Abnett *''Master of Mankind'' (Novel) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden *''War of the Beast, Book 5: Throneworld'' by Guy Haley Gallery Constantin Valdor.jpg|An ancient Remembrancer's sketch from Carpinius' Speculum Historiale, depicting Constantin Valdor, the Captain-General and Chief Custodian of the Legio Custodes as he appeared during the Great Crusade era ConstantinValdor.jpg|Constantin Valdor, the Captain-General and Chief Custodian of the Legio Custodes in battle during the Horus Heresy File:Cpt.-General Trajann Valoris.jpg|Trajann Valoris, the current Chief Custodian and 17th Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, leads the defence of the Imperial Palace during the Second Battle of Terra against the daemonic hordes of Khorne. es:Capitán General Category:C Category:Adeptus Custodes Category:Imperium Category:Titles